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Stroke commonly results in gait deficits which impacts functional ambulation and quality of life. Robotic exoskeletons (RE) for overground walking are devices that are programmable to provide high dose and movement-impairment specific assistance thus offering new rehabilitation possibilities for recovery progression in individuals post stroke. The purpose of this investigation is to present preliminary utilization data in individuals with acute and chronic stroke after walking overground with an RE. Secondary analysis on a subset of individuals is presented to understand the mechanistic changes due to RE overground walking. Thirty-eight participants with hemiplegia secondary to stroke were enrolled in a clinical trial conducted at eight rehabilitation centers. Data is presented for four sessions of overground walking in the RE over the course of 2 weeks. Participants continued their standard of care if they had any ongoing therapy at the time of study enrollment. Gait speed during the 10 Meter Walk Test, Gait deviations and the Functional Ambulation Category (FAC) data were collected before (baseline) and after (follow-up) the RE walking sessions. Walking speed significantly increased between baseline and follow-up for participants in the chronic (p p < 0.05) stage of stroke recovery. FAC level significantly improved (p < 0.05) and there were significantly fewer (p < 0.05) gait deviations observed for participants in the acute stages of stroke recovery between baseline and follow-up. Secondary analysis on a subset of eight participants indicated that after four sessions of overground walking with the RE, the participants significantly improved their spatial symmetry. The walk time, step count and ratio of walk time to up time increased from first session to the last session for participants in the chronic and acute stages of stroke. The RE was effectively utilized for overground walking for individuals with acute and chronic stroke with varying severity levels. The results demonstrated an increase in walking speed, improvement in FAC and a decrease in gait deviations (from baseline to follow-up) after four sessions of overground walking in the RE for participants. In addition, preliminary data indicated that spatial symmetry and step length also improved after utilization of an RE for overground walking.

Chest X-ray imaging technology used for the early detection and screening of COVID-19 pneumonia is both accessible worldwide and affordable compared to other non-invasive technologies. Additionally, deep learning methods have recently shown remarkable results in detecting COVID-19 on chest X-rays, making it a promising screening technology for COVID-19. Deep learning relies on a large amount of data to avoid overfitting. While overfitting can result in perfect modeling on the original training dataset, on a new testing dataset it can fail to achieve high accuracy. In the image processing field, an image augmentation step (i.e., adding more training data) is often used to reduce overfitting on the training dataset, and improve prediction accuracy on the testing dataset. In this paper, we examined the impact of geometric augmentations as implemented in several recent publications for detecting COVID-19. We compared the performance of 17 deep learning algorithms with and without different geometric augmentations. We empirically examined the influence of augmentation with respect to detection accuracy, dataset diversity, augmentation methodology, and network size. Contrary to expectation, our results show that the removal of recently used geometrical augmentation steps actually improved the Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) of 17 models. The MCC without augmentation (MCC = 0.51) outperformed four recent geometrical augmentations (MCC = 0.47 for Data Augmentation 1, MCC = 0.44 for Data Augmentation 2, MCC = 0.48 for Data Augmentation 3, and MCC = 0.49 for Data Augmentation 4). When we retrained a recently published deep learning without augmentation on the same dataset, the detection accuracy significantly increased, with a χ2McNemar's statistic=163.2χMcNemar′s statistic2=163.2 and a p-value of 2.23 × 10−37. This is an interesting finding that may improve current deep learning algorithms using geometrical augmentations for detecting COVID-19. We also provide clinical perspectives on geometric augmentation to consider regarding the development of a robust COVID-19 X-ray-based detector., Frontiers in Medicine, 8, ISSN:2296-858X

In 1829, the perceptive landscape gardener John Claudius Loudon published an essay in which he introduced the design of a “systematic plan” for the layout of an ideal London that became a theoretical model. Little known today, yet the influence of the Scot’s “beau ideal” is measurable on the course of town planning theory and practice for the remainder of the nineteenth century. This includes colonial Adelaide’s renowned park lands that were conceived in 1835 and executed in 1837. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Refereed/Peer-reviewed

This article reviews Canadian human rights policy approaches aimed at improving opportunities for participation in Canadian society for persons with disabilities. The response of the social work profession to societal changes and the reconceptualization of disabilities is explored relative to the impact of the disability movement. The shift from a medical rehabilitation model to a more relevant social model provides a backdrop to examine changes required in social work practice and education. A range of leadership roles for social work educators and schools of social work is presented. One educator's attempt to address these issues is discussed in relation to the development of a social work and disabilities course in a generalist B.S.W. program in Canada. The course's focus on issues of accessibility and participation appear to lead to both predictable attitudinal changes in students and unanticipated yet positive influences for members of the school of social work and university.

Who authored the colonial town plan for Adelaide, South Australia, that was executed in January 1837 (Fig. 1)? Answers have ranged from William Light as sole planner to, more recently, George Stric...

That geometry is employed in architecture is well known. So too is its application known since antiquity to the layout of cities. Based on experiences as an architect who believed in a holistic approach to his art (referring to it as organic), Frank Lloyd Wright used simple geometry to rationalize fundamental physical and programmatic determinants. It is not surprising, therefore, that he applied geometry in community and city planning projects to define and enhance determinants such as land use, spatial configuration, transportation routes, and building mass and to anticipate social interactions. Four projects of the period between 1909 and 1935 are analyzed.

It is commonly believed that the planning concept of a Neighborhood Unit was the brain-child of Clarence A. Perry as published in 1929. However, the idea was formulated during Chicago's reformist and Progressive milieu in the decade before Europe's new war by the architect William E. Drummond. His theory and terminology were widely exhibited and published during the years 1913–22.

When American architects were arguing the pros and cons of European modernism, Wright presented a design for the Capital Journal building in Salem, Oregon, that was in response to the European's abstract, stark, boxes. Wright's letter forwarding the design drawings to his client George Putnam, published here for the first time, offers a rare glimpse into Wright's methodology for a particular design. In this case we can better understand the architectonics of the proposal, in particular the functional character of glass.

The profession of social work has a long history of work with "clients" with disabilities, but unfortunately, this history often has not included strong advocacy for their rights and creating a place as colleagues within Schools of Social Work (Dunn, Hanes and MacDonald, 2003). From a critical disability perspective and a view of disability as being socially constructed, the profession and its educational institutions need to rethink their approach to students, faculty and staff with disabilities (May & Raske, 2005). Best practices in accessibility, accommodation and inclusivity will be explored within Canadian Schools of Social Work. Knowledge shared in this article was derived from a critical review of the literature, a survey of Schools of Social Work in Canada (Dunn, Hanes, Hardie, and MacDonald, 2006), and a National Best Practices conference (Dunn, Hanes, Hardie, Leslie, and MacDonald, J, 2004). Disability inclusion within Schools of Social Work is explored in five main areas: 1) recruitment and admissions; 2) accommodation; 3) curriculum; 4) field placements; and 5) retention, graduation and meaningful employment. While the specific focus is on social work education the principles and practices can be applied to other disciplines within the academy and beyond.